OSSOBUCO ALLA MILANESE

OSSOBUCO ALLA MILANESE image

Yield 4-8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 17

1 c. finely chopped yellow onion
2/3 c. finely chopped carrot
2/3 c. finely chopped celery
1/4 c. butter
1 t. finely chopped garlic
2 strips lemon peel
1/2 c. vegetable oil
8 pieces veal shank, about 2" thick each, tied securely around the middle
3/4 c. all purpose flour, spread on a plate or waxed paper
1 c. dry white wine
1 1/2 c. homemade meat broth
1 1/2 c canned Italian tomotes, coarsely chopped, with their juice
1/4 t. dried thyme
4 leaves fresh basil
2 bay leaves
2 r 3 sprigs Italian parsley
Freshly ground pepper and salt

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Choose a heavy casserole with a tight fitting lid that is just large enough to contain the veal pieces in a single layer. Put in the onion, carrot, celery and butter and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables soften and wilt. Add the chopped garlic and lemon peel toward the end. Remove from heat. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Coat the veal in the flour, shaking off the excess. When the oil is hot, brown the veal on all sides. Stand the pieces of veal side by side on top of the vegetables in the casserole. Tip the skillet and draw off nearly all the fat with a spoon. Add the wine and boil briskly for about 3 minutes, scraping up and loosening any brown residue stuck to the pan. Pour over the veal in the casserole. In the same skillet, bring the broth to a simmer and pour into the casserole. Add the chopped tomatoes with their juice, the thyme, basil, bay leaves, parsey, pepper and salt. The broth should come up to the top of the veal, if not, add some more. Bring the contents of the casserole to a simmer on top of the stove. Cover tightly and place in the lower third of the preheated oven. Cook for about 2 hours, carfully turning and basting the veal piece every 20 minutes. When done, they should be very tender when pricked with a fork and their sauce should be dense and creamy. Pour the sauce over the veal and serve very hot.